The Colour Of Brady: Marcy's Story
by justgreat
Summary: After Caroline gets free from the plantation, Marcy and her sisters are left at the mercy of Brady's cruel sons.


The Colour Of Brady: Marcy's Story

This is the work of fiction and I do not own any of the characters depicted here. You should read the first part of this story before continuing with this one. Hope that some of you will enjoy and send in your comments.

Marcia was very restless as she lay in her bed that night. After the Brady family had watched that movie about black slavery they had all been affected by it in one way or another and the girls were probably most disturbed by it. The very idea of spending your entire life working yourself almost to death for someone who really doesn't appreciate it was just unimaginable in a modern world. Marcia thought about that woman in the film and tried to put herself in her place as she finally drifted off to sleep.

When she woke again she found herself in a room she did not recognise at all. She was cooking dinner in a hot and filthy kitchen. She was wearing a long dark dress with a white apron and then it dawned on her who she was. Her name was Marcy and she and her sisters worked for a man called Brady on a big plantation. She was in the charge of his oldest son Gregory, a mean and cruel young man.

She knew that her mother Caroline had managed to escape the confines of this place just two days before. The man who had allowed her to go had told her and both of her sisters and they were all grateful to him. Still, it was unlikely that they would ever see her again now and they could only wish her good luck and a better life then the one she had left behind. Marcy now prayed for some miracle that would set her and her siblings free from this life of servitude.

As she walked out of the kitchen and down the long hallway leading to the dining area with a tray containing a plate of hot potato and vegetables on one side and a jug of ale on the other she saw herself in a mirror on the wall and gasped, almost dropping the tray. The image in front of her reminded her of a singer named Donna Summer from another time. She didn't understand how she knew this. She stopped for a moment and looked at the reflection. Something told her this was not her true self and she should not really be here at all.

She then proceeded down the hall and soon she entered the large dinning room where all of the Brady family ate. She placed the meal on the table in front of Gregory as was her duty. Both of her sisters served their own masters at their prospective places at the table. Brady himself sat at the head of the table of course. The middle son Peter was in charge of her younger sister Janet and the youngest son Robert was the master of her youngest sister Cynthia. Each of Brady's sons was unkind in their own way.

Before Marcy and her siblings left the room Brady said to them, "I am sorry that your mother decided to be foolish and run away. None of you will probably see her again now. I did tell her that if she was patient I might be able to set you all free but she choose not to listen. I hope that all of you won't do the same thing. If you continue to perform your duties for perhaps a few more years then I just may set you all free. It's entirely up to you. You may go now."

None of the girls had reason to believe what he had just told them. They would all be condemned to this life forever. Gregory commented, "She was just stupid, like the rest of them! Marcy, I want you to plough the field today and you better do a good job. You don't get any more food or drink until it's done, all right!"

Marcy nodded. "Yes, Master Gregory!" She knew that things could be even worse since their mother's departure. She remembered the time he had locked her in the outhouse for several hours for not doing her work the way he wanted her to. She remembered being confined to her dirty little room upstairs for being too slow cooking the meal. She knew she had better plough the field good or he might have a worse punishment in store for her then just going without food and water.

So for most of that day Marcy ploughed the big field aided by a two horse team. It was a hot day and she was near exhaustion by the time the job was completed. It still had to be inspected by her Master and she knew he was not easy to please. He came over in his horse drawn carriage shortly after she'd finished. He surveyed her efforts for a few minutes and then told her, "This is not good enough, Marcy! So many patches you have missed. I'm afraid you'll have to go over it again tomorrow and you get nothing more today. Now come with me! I'm taking you to your room."

She got up onto the back of the carriage and they rode the half mile back to the Brady property. He dragged her up the stairs and into her dingy little room. Her sisters had similar accommodation. He ordered her to lay on her bed. After she had done this he got out some rope from a nearby drawer which was kept there for occasions such as these. He began to tie her hands to the bedposts and he always tied them tightly. He then secured her feet to the opposite bedpost. He had done this to her several times but it was never any less frightening.

"Now then, girl," Gregory told her. "You stay like until the morning and then you'll be fed. Maybe it'll teach you to do a proper job as you should have done today. It usually does the trick. This is for your own good, Marcy! You've got to learn that when your master tells you to do something you must do it the way he wants it done. I could take your punishment further if I have to but I think you'll be smart and do it right tomorrow."

He then left the room, leaving Marcy alone and in captivity and that's how she would remain during the long night. Not even allowed to use the outhouse so she would have to go in her clothes. To be treated like this for years to come, maybe until her dying day was unbearable to even think about. She decided there and then that if their mother did not return for all of them soon, and Marcy did not believe that was very likely, then she was going to get out of this hellhole or die in the attempt. Still, Caroline had always kept her word before so perhaps there was hope that she would come back and liberate them all. It was the only one she could cling to.

After what seemed a very long night Marcy woke at about six in the morning. About half an hour later one of the other slaves, a man called Tom, came into her room and undid her bonds. He then brought in a bowl with some stale bread and a pitcher of water. What else can I expect? Marcy thought. She thanked Tom but before he left he warned her, "Best do like the master tells you, Missy Brady. It ain't easy for any of us but it only gets worse if you don't please them. I think if you try a little harder today he won't get any madder and he'll even say you done a good job. Good luck, I figure you'll need it." He then departed leaving her to contemplate her fate on this day and many subsequent days. Good luck was all she could hope for.

Soon she was back ploughing that field again. She knew several more hours of work would be required for her to have any chance of satisfying young Master Brady. In any normal job he would simply fire her for incompetence but she was not a normal worker, she was a slave. No matter how many times she did it wrong she would have to go over and over it until her "boss" said it was okay. Marcy toiled and sweated in that field and prayed her efforts wouldn't be in vain for a second time.

In the late afternoon Gregory Brady rode over to see how she was doing. He looked over the field in great detail for several minutes. As he stood there something told Marcy that she had known this young man in a different time and a different life and he wasn't anything like the harsh taskmaster he was on this plantation. She couldn't explain how she knew this but if she had the option to trade this life for that other one there was little doubt which one she would pick.

At last he turned to her and said, "Good girl, Marcy, I knew you could do it if you tried. You can have the rest of the day off now and tomorrow I'll give you an easier job. Don't be like your mama and start thinking about getting away. If you do that things could be a lot worse then they are now. I'm not a bad man if you get on the good side of me. If you don't then I can be pretty mean. It's entirely up to you. Now ask Tom to make you some hot soup and then you can retire to your room and keep in mind what I've told you."

As she sat on her bed sipping at her chicken soup all she think about was what young Brady had said. She either accepted things the way they already were or face an even worse future. There were times when she thought that death would be a welcome alternative to this hell on earth. Still, her mother was out there somewhere and probably the only salvation she and her sisters had.


End file.
